Who is this woman, this Emma Swan?
by MusicalGirl97
Summary: A quick one-shot I came up with. Regina's thoughts in 1x02 when she figures out that Emma is the savior. My first fanfiction, not SQ.


Emma.

Of all the names in this world, hers had to be Emma.

Henry wouldn't stop talking about her. Did he know how scared she was when he left? Did he know how much it pained her to hear that name spoken with such admiration? Perhaps not. Perhaps he didn't care. Perhaps he didn't love Regina as much as he did his "real" mother. He only just found her that day and she was all he talked about. Emma this, Emma that.

It was ironic she supposed.

Emma. The name was so short, so simple, and yet to Regina it carried so much meaning, so much resentment.

Perhaps that name was her own personal curse. As far as she knew, Regina had never harmed anyone bearing the name, and yet it seemed to be holding a personal grudge against her. In the Enchanted Forest, Emma was an idea. She was a symbol of everything Regina could never be. And now, Henry had found the woman who gave birth to him, who could apparently love him more than the one who raised him. He had found his real mother.

Emma.

It was only fitting.

In her old world, Regina never met the woman, but she hated her nonetheless. Emma's name was an inescapable part of her life in the palace. The people had loved her so dearly, they continued to revere her long after her unfortunate death. And what was Regina? Nothing but a replacement, a poor replica, for none could compare to their beloved Emma.

She had been the fairest of them all, as Regina was constantly reminded. At first it was a simple annoyance, an understandable nuisance, but as time passed she began to despise every mention of the name. She tried her best to make them forget, to be the Queen Emma had once been. But the people never truly accepted her, no matter what she did to assert her authority, her worthiness of the throne. Leopold still pined for his first wife, Snow still longed for her real mother.

And now it was happening again. She had raised Henry since he was only three weeks old. He never knew any mother besides herself. For ten years, she was the one who got up in the night to chase away the nightmares. She was the one who stayed by his bedside when he was sick. She was the one who endured every temper tantrum he could throw at her. And where was Emma? Doing who knows what with who knows who. Henry was Regina's son, and she loved him more than anything else in the world. She gave him everything, yet he rejected her.

For Emma.

Emma.

Emma?

Of course it was a coincidence. It had to be. What other explanation was there?

"Where is she?"

"She got away. You're going to lose."

Regina shook her head, trying to stop the memories from resurfacing, but it was inevitable.

"In twenty-eight years, there will be a savior."

Had it really been that long?

No, it couldn't be. It simply couldn't be. She had worked too hard, sacrificed far too much for this curse to have it be broken now. She had taken precautions, done everything in her power to prevent this from happening. When she first learned that a savior had been prophecied, Regina began adding to the curse. She created a barrier spell, added it on to the curse without Rumpelstiltskin's knowledge.

Had it all been for nothing?

Because now this woman, this Emma Swan, was here. She arrived in Storybrooke exactly twenty-eight years since the day the curse was cast, which also just happened to be her twenty-eighth birthday. Coincidence?

The ticking clock gave her an answer. Time was beginning to move again, which meant that her curse was starting to weaken.

Because of Emma.

Of course that's what Snow White would name her daughter. Most would assume it was to honor her deceased mother, just as Regina had named Henry after her father, but it was more than that, she knew. Snow must have known how much Regina despised the name Emma. She must have known that her daughter would be the one to defeat Regina and break the curse. Of course that little brat named her Emma, just another way to torture her, as was her goal in life.

But Regina would not give Snow the satisfaction of unsettling her. No doubt that had been her intention, to throw off her concentration and give her daughter an advantage in the final battle. But she refused to let Snow's actions get to her. Her little plan had failed, because Regina would not let the name Emma cause her to lose her control.

She would keep the curse intact.

She would win back Henry's, her son's, affections.

And she would make certain that _Miss Swan_ left Storybrooke, for good.


End file.
